. tel-aviv is located 37 miles from the gaza strip. its population is about the sizeofdallas, texaswith around 1.2 million people. the surrounding area, though, if you look at the suburbs, we are talking about 3.3 million people and that is nearly half the size of the entire israeli population. so far the rockets have only reached the outskirts of this area, but a direct strike on tel-aviv would mark the first time gaza rockets have reached the city and that would mark a significant escalation. more on that as we get it. in the meantime we have more breaking news for you now out of the gulf here stateside. the coast guard has said that it is now investigating a fire at an oil-drilling platform off the coast of louisiana. an owe a parish official says the rig is not drilling at a deepwater site like we saw, for example with the bp incidents. obviously the coast guard is giving this plenty of attention. we are reaching out to the coast guard, where is this. what is the extent of this fire if there is one that they are investigating, so we'll have more breaking news out of louisiana i

evening in midland, some 300 miles westofdallas-ft. worth.investigators say a freight train slammed into this flatbed carrying the vets and their families to a banquet. four servicemen died and more than a dozen other people got hurt. one of victims, army sergeant michael, his mother-in-law says the purple heart winner pushed his wife out of the way possibly saving her life. other witnesses say they saw folks panic and jump from the parade float. casey is live with more at the scene in midland, texas. this was one of two floats in the parade, right? >>casey: i will explain that in a second. but, first, right back there behind me the train in the last minute or so just started moving, the first time we have seen that since this accident. obviously they have to clear the railway at some point but investigators point out they are in the infancy of the investigation. there were two floats totaled. one has successfully made it across the intersection and cleared it. as the second was going through that is when the accident happened. this was part of the 9th annual parade, "show of suppor

now a chemical plant on fire in garland, texas. this is just a few miles northeastofdallas. newpictures coming into fox news. firefighters trying to and thosg some 50 feet into the air. it's the nexeo solutions plant. it's related to the production of valvoline oil and other products. a spokesperson says all 41 workers at the plant are safe, but officials are evacuated people who live within a quarter mile of this plant. a temporary flight restriction is now in place. so our news choppers had to leave the area and prevent us from bringing you live pictures. but these are fresh ones coming in to fox news. the fire captain says he's not sure what started this fire which began about three hours ago. he says it took firefighters some time to even get close to it because of how close those chemical storage tanks are to one another and the intense heat. more details on this as we get them. >>> we are now hearing from witnesses who were describing what happened when a train slamd into a parade float that was filled with u.s. military veterans. plus how some of those veterans raced to

are flocking to south fork in parker, texas for the late larry hagman. the site of the popular "dallas" where hagman played jr ewing, one of the most memorable villains of all time. he was 81. people are returning to their religious roots. research shows a number of americans raised with one religion and left for one reason or another, once they hit adult hood are going back to the faith later in life. and rebirths and churches are seeing the way to fight declining attendance. dominic di-natale is live for us in los angeles. >> hi, harris, and some thought it used to be a time when people started having kids and find themselves returning to their values they grew up with and place most of them at the church steps once again and now, reasons including challenges live dealing with hurricane sandy and the stuff economy and people looking to the pulpit for answers. >> now, granted jesus returns us to good. >> growing up. scott saw attending church more of a chore. and what religion experts say what young adults do, he put his parent's religion out of his life. >> and the typical age, 18, 19, 20 a

and tel aviv make up an area of the sizeofdallas, texas,with 1.5 million people. the u.s. embassy is located in tel aviv. israel's iron dong missile system is striking back. firing on more than 500 targets approximate intercepting more than 100 hamas rockets. we will have won the story, including an interview with the israeli ambassador to the united nations. but first, another alert on another major developing story today. testimony earlier today from former cia director general david interests behind closed doors on capitol hill. according to lawmakers who were present, general petraeus insisted during two separate hearings today, on the topic of libya and the terror attack there that killed four americans, that he was clear from the very start that it was a terrorist attack. however, after the cia prepared talking points, they were vetted or at least pass on to several agencies. the line concluding that al qaeda was responsible for this act was taken out of the final version that we believe was ultimately given to the u.n. ambassador, susan rice. why was that done? who did this

the crossing. casey steegal livethisdallas. >>reporter: the national transportation safety board has told us that the driver of that parade float started to go through the intersection even though it has been ruled that the warning bells were sounding and the warning lights were flashing. the ntsb now has a better timeline in terms of what happened. they say that the warning devices had been activated about 20 seconds prior to this crash, then seven seconds later the gates came down. nine seconds prior to impact the train sounded its horn. federal investigators have not released the driver's name but tell us he has submitted a blood sample at the hospital hours after thursday's crash, and today he'll be interviewed. engineers onboard that train will also be questioned. now, over the weekend memorial services were held in midland. people showed up to donate blood, a community, quite frankly, still in shock. >> it's amazing, the human spirit in moments of chaos like this. it's the same human spirit that we see in combat where when situations get chaotic and people need help, these veterans, th